Game of Thrones cosplay

11/5/2018

We love Game of Thrones, although we don't let the kids watch it. We're very excited for the final season to come out next year. We've read all the books that have been released so far (before we broke down and got HBO to see the series). But the real reason we're doing this cosplay is that we need Renfaire costumes to wear to TRF for Black Friday. We normally go in our Celtic Christmas costumes, but I've been wanting to do this one for awhile now and get our pictures taken professionally, so this is the year. Unfortunately, I have less than 3 weeks to put this together and I'm in tech for our second show this week. Fortunately, I've already got everything I need for John Snow from stuff we had around the house. None of this is going to be screen accurate, that would take way more time than I have, and money that I already spent at Waxacon. But it will be good enough to get a nice family photo. I've got a lot of things I can use at school. Probably the only thing I'll have to make it Dany's top and cape.

Research

Rob as Robert Baratheon

He has brown boots, a belt, and I have plenty of crowns. He just needs a purple doublet and brown pants. I can maybe throw that together.

I found a skirted doublet that I can use as well as the extra fabric it was made from so I can add extra room at the side seams for his tummy. I had to slit up the CF seam and add a panel to provide the extra room. I also cut out the armseye to give him more freedom of movement. I removed the purple sleeves and cut a new set of sleeves in gold and I added shoulder wings out of the purple fabric. He still needs a wig because he's shaved off all his hair and I'm going to have to regrey his beard after he dyed it black for Ming, but that's OK.

I spent about four hours this weekend finishing up all the alterations on this costume. I did a self-casing with elastic for the waistband of the pants. Then I removed the collar, cut the neckline down on the doublet, cut the collar height down as well, added about 3 inches to the CB seam of the collar and then reattached it. I had to re-attach most of the gold trim as well since removing the collar also ripped most of the handsewing out. I also removed the cuffs from the old purple sleeves and attached them to the new gold sleeves. I found a crown that fits and a grey wig. I found grey hairspray for his beard and it's done.

Me as Cersei Lannister

I made a dress for Lady Capulet a few years back that's almost the right color and exactly the right shape. My hair's not long or blond enough, but I can buy another wig.

I found the dress, of course it's too small, and the big sleeves are missing. I'm still looking for them.

Wednesday during cosplay club meeting, I ripped the skirt off the bodice, removed the inner sleeves and the upper sleeves, removed all the gold trim, took out all four darts and had Jason fit it on me. I ended up adding two panels in at the side seams made from the upper sleeves. That made it big enough in the bust and rib cage measurements to close in the back. But my cup size was much larger than the girl it had been cut for originally and I needed to extend the length of the bodice so that the waistline seam didn't cut me across the nipples. It had been hemmed twice because it was originally made for a very tall actress and each subsequent time it was used had to be hemmed even higher. I let out all the hems to find out that it had originally been cut at 52" long. I was planning on cutting some fabric out of the hem to use to extend the bodice, but then realized that I could cut it from the waist instead and there would be less wasted fabric because the skirt at the waist was the same measurement as the bodice at the waist (the skirt was originally gathered and should have been longer but since I added the panels in at the side seams, it turned out to be the same length. I used the top 7" of the skirt to extend the length of the bodice. I also raised the shoulder seam 1 1/2" which had the added bonus of covering more of my ample bosom. I cut the armseye lower and re-serged the raw edge. When I fit it back on my size 16 mannequin, I then repinned the four darts but only in the additional piece. The darts end at the seamline. Cerci's neckline is a V, so I still need to recut the neckline. Because I ripped off all the gold trim, the hem is now coming out and has to be redone anyway.

I gave up looking for the sleeves, so I've found the same fabric in gold and will cut new sleeves out of that. I found a gorgeous red upholstery fabric with a floral pattern that I am using for trim. I spent a good 4 hours Tuesday making mostly 3" bias for the sleeves and skirt hem, as well as 1" bias for the neckline edge. I rehemed the skirt, cut the Vee neckline and hemmed it, and attached all the bias trim on Wednesday. I still need to attach the sleeves, which I will do tomorrow morning, yes I know it's Thanksgiving, but since Seth has football practice anyway and we're going to Rob's relatives' house for dinner, I can totally spend the morning sewing without feeling guilty. I still have so much work to do.

On Black Friday I finally got my sleeves sewn in and bought a blonde wig. It's not really long enough or curly enough, but it'll do. I only paid $32.00 for it from Beauty Mart.

Seth as John Snow

I made Rob a black doublet out of my grandmother's black leather trenchcoat almost 10 years ago that will work perfectly. Rob already had black period pants and a shirt. I've got boots at school. Rob has a sword. And I've got two different capes. We just bleached his hair for John Constantine, so now I'll have to dye it black again. Plus it's a lot shorter now, but it grows fast. The only thing I ended up sewing was attaching the fur collar to the cape. Until I decided that he needed a better cape. So I made a new one on black Friday out of black corduroy.

Sylvan as Tyrion Lannister

I made red leather doublets for Richard III almost 20 years ago now. I just need to find one that's large enough for him. Black pants and shirt are all he needs. He already bought a flask and knows his one line, "I drink and I know things." He's bald right now from being Deadman, but it'll grow some in the next three weeks. I can always put him in a wig. He'll hate it, but it'll keep his head warm. I found a great ginger wig.

I gave up on the red leather doublet idea, because none of the ones I made for Richard are large enough. So luckily he fits into Rob's Celtic Christmas doublet. He's supposed to have a grey tunic underneath with long sleeves and a skirt. I pulled out the coat I made for Malcolm in Macbeth. I made it with donated fabric and there was never enough for sleeves which always disappointed me. I pulled two other grey fabric scraps and cut sleeves from the denim, and lining for the pre-existing shoulder wings out of the upholstery sample, The collar is perfect, but the whole thing is too small in the chest and the peplum is too long for anyone other than the guy it was made for. So I cut 7 inches off the hem and used it to extend the CF closure and create a new peplum for the new extended CF. I got the entire sleeve treatment cut, stiffened with horse hair, lined, and sewn in this morning. Now we just need to do another fitting. I spent almost 7 hours working on it Monday.

I went in to work on it Wednesday (the day before Thanksgiving.) I spent about 4 hours on it. I had to recut the red doublet's armseye to enlarge it, esp underneath, and I had to take in the CB seam. The hook and eye tape had been ripped off in the middle section at some point, (too much stress in that area) so that needed to be repaired. I had to restitch the collar lining on the grey tunic, hem and stitch the new CF peplum pieces in at the waist and then attach them to the former CF peplum pieces by hand. I hemmed the sleeves too. All it needs now is some closures. He can wear his black dance pants and I found him some black boots today, but they need insoles.

Sarah as Danyaers Targaryan

I'm going to have to make her top and cape. She needs grey pants and boots. And a dragon. No problem. We'll have to bleach her hair again.

I found pants and boots. The boots I actually made 23 years ago in graduate school. I found some lovely blue fabrics for the cape, lining, and her bodice. The cape fabric is an upholstery grade fake crushed velvet. It's more like it's velvet pile that's been flocked onto a canvas backing. But I washed it and it didn't fall apart and it's got a much softer hand now. I'm lining it with a poly wrinkled taffeta. The pattern for the cape is a standard semi-circle with a separate piece in the front that has a dart in the shoulder area so it sits comfortably on her shoulders and hopefully won't pull back on her neck and choke her as a lot of capes are wont to do. I finished the cape Tuesday.

The bodice is a heavy sateen/lycra blend. It has a two way stretch. I draped the pattern on my size 6 mannequin (the smallest I have) which is still 6 inches too big in the bust and 4 inches too big in the waist. This was all on Tuesday. I got her in a for a fitting on Wednesday and the length is fine as is the back. It's mostly a problem of the bust that Sarah doesn't have yet because she's just 11. However, I've cut it on the 6 anyway and will make adjustments with the darts so that she can still wear it next year after what I'm sure will be the first of many a growing spurt. It's a complicated pattern due to the overlapping asymmetrical nature of the skirt and it ended up being 10 pieces. Hopefully I'll get is sewn together this morning. So Thursday morning I got the 10 pieces all serged and darted and Friday I combined the 8 skirt pieces into 2. I can't do anything else until I have a fitting, which I'm hoping to get done this weekend.

After the fitting I sewed up the darts in the front, attached the skirt pieces and hemmed everything. I also lowered the armseye a bit. It's ready to ride! I just need a pin for the cape and we ordered a prop dragon from Amazon.